Jonas Brothers

[Pride]

My friend is obsessed with these guys, literally. I don't know much about them, but I thought I'd start a thread to see if anyone else has heard of them. They play on radio disney at times, so I know they're Disney-related.
I think their names are Nick, Joe, and Kevin?

[Shenzi]

I have seen a couple of their music videos on the Disney Channel but that's really it. They are ok, and if the one guy dyed his hair green he's make a great live action Jake Long lol. I don't care for them too much though.

[Pride]

I agree, I'm not a fan, but their songs are alright.
Here's their biogrophy from their official site www.jonasbrothers.com

Jonas Brothers
It's About Time
"Music on Red Bull." Without hesitating, that's how 17-year-old Kevin Jonas describes the hyper-adrenalized sounds he's created with his two brothers, 13-year-old Nicholas and 16-year-old Joseph, on the Jonas Brothers' debut album, It's About Time. And it's no wonder since the boys' influences include an eclectic mix of artists ranging from the Ramones to the Jackson 5 to the Modern Lovers--all purveyors of tight, catchy anthems. One thing is for sure, the Jonas Brothers are all ready to keep the momentum going strong. "We go crazy on stage!" says Kevin. "It's so much fun!"

Music always played a major part in the brothers' lives growing up in Wyckoff, New Jersey. Their parents are both musicians, so gathering around the piano for sing-alongs was an essential part of regular family bonding, yet each brother found his own musical calling in a different way.

The oldest, Kevin, who plays guitar and sings backing vocals, was home sick one day when he found a guitar and a "Teach Yourself Guitar" book lying around the house. "I spent the next three days learning how to play the basic chords," Kevin remembers. "That was about four years ago."

Nicholas, who shares lead vocals with Joseph in the group, began singing as soon as he could talk. "From the time I was two years old, I would wake up in the morning and start singing all the time, every second of the day," he says. Nicholas, whose voice has been compared to that of previous prodigies Stevie Wonder and Taylor Hanson, was "discovered" singing while getting his hair cut in a local barbershop. His poignant voice caught the attention of a woman in the shop who immediately referred him to a professional show business manager.

Joseph's original plan, however, was slightly different than his brothers. He first dreamed of becoming a comedian and wanted to audition for sketch comedy shows. "But I was always attached to music and loved listening to different kinds of music, especially rock," he says.

Meanwhile, Daylight/Columbia Records, after hearing Nicholas' incredible voice, began planning a solo record with him. And then fate intervened….

Nicholas and his brothers began submitting songs that they'd written together with the intention of having them appear on Nicholas' solo album. When the label became aware that Nicholas had musically talented siblings, a group performance was arranged. After a spectacular group audition was held for the label, the direction was clear. "All three of us were signed pretty much on the spot as the Jonas Brothers," Kevin says.

For the Jonas boys, the real fun began as they combined their musical abilities to write and record their debut album together, quickly realizing how lucky they were to have each other for both personal and professional inspiration. "It's awesome to have my brothers on stage and in the studio with me," explains Nicholas. "You have a security that everything is going to be okay, even when you mess up."

As Kevin puts it, "It feels like the most natural thing we could be doing. When we write a song we get in a triangle. I start playing the chords that we've chosen over and over and then we'll keep going around in a circle until we have figured out the lyrics for our song."

They're all particularly proud of their vocal chemistry as well. "Nicholas is the powerhouse vocal," says Joseph. "He's just got this young, soulful voice that catches everyone's ear."

"Joseph just has this really cool, smooth rock voice," Nicholas points out. "He really knows how to get the crowd going. Kevin is the one that holds us all together. Joseph and I are the singers and we take turns on keyboards, and percussion, but Kevin mostly plays the guitar and that's the part of the group that we need--he's the glue that keeps it together."

Joseph sees them all collaborating for years to come. "We're brothers so it's not like if we got upset at each other that we can be like, 'Well I quit.' They're still my brothers. We love to do this and we know we're going to keep doing for a very long time."

Inspiration for the group's songs comes directly from the boys' personal experiences--from the highs and lows of dating to being on the road to having been given the opportunity to follow their dreams at such a young age. "A lot of it is about typical teenage love stuff like 'Oh, what am I going to do if I can't see her today?' It's not stuff that we don't know about," says Nicholas.

"There's been heartbreaks and there's been crushes so we know how it feels and can write about it," explains Kevin, but overall, the songs of the Jonas Brothers celebrate the joy of living and encourage people to feel good. "The album is meant to get people up and have fun and raise their energy," says Joseph.

"We decided to call the album It's About Time," Nicholas reveals, "because so many of our songs seem to deal with different aspects of time." Kevin continues the explanation of the concept, "There's '6 Minutes,' which is about how quickly you can run through the full range of emotions when you feel strongly about someone you just met. There's '7:05,' about etching in your memory the exact time a relationship ended, and, well, the list goes on."

Songs on the album that stand out for the boys include their tune "Time For Me to Fly," a catchy, fast track that is about "following our dream of making music" according to Kevin. "The song is about us working hard, playing music every night and trying to make things happen."

One of the more personal tracks on the record is the first single, "Mandy," which is about a girl that their mother, a sign language teacher, taught to sign so that she could pursue her dream of working with the hearing impaired. Nicholas, Joseph and Kevin each formed a special friendship with Mandy. "We were writing songs one day and decided we wanted to write about something really nice--so we wrote a song about Mandy," recalls Nicholas. "She's the nicest girl you will ever meet. She knows what you're thinking all the time."

"Don't Tell Anyone," one of the more emotional songs on the record, is about liking someone but not being able to admit it. "One Day At A Time" talks about how minutes seem like days after you find yourself on the wrong end of a breakup. "That's probably the darkest song on the album," says Kevin.

For now the brothers are just relishing in the experience of having other people hear their music live and making new fans one city at a time while they are on the road. "We've known for a while how it felt to be on stage, but we never knew how it would feel to have people love music that we've written and which we both play and sing. It's very gratifying when fans come up to us after shows and tell us how much they relate to our songs," says Joseph.

"We all have such passion for what we do and for our band," explains Kevin. Our dreams have really come true and we're just so lucky."

[joplin4]

I can't stand their Disney songs. They tend to butcher the best Disney songs. I hated what they did to "Poor Unfortunate Souls". And they completely trashed "Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me". I personally don't think they have much talent. But that's just me.

[Pride]

I'm not a fan either, but I'm just trying to stir up some conversation and see if anyone has an interest

[--Axelle--]

i love JB and finally im gonna see them in Juny ooh so exited

[joplin4]

I have heard some of their original songs, and I have to say that they are a whole lot better when singing their originals as compared with the Disney remakes. I just think that the lead singer (I assume he's the lead) always looks like he's in pain when singing.

[diznykid]

I love their original songs, but hate their Disney covers. Most Disney covers are terrible, so it isn't their fault, really, just the evil corporated we-want-money corporation ... haha
But I haven't really heard Poor Unfortunate Souls by them ... but nonetheless I love their originals. (I have the CD)

[Briar Rose's Dark Knight]

It's been my experience that just about everyone butchers a cover of a Disney classic. Sometimes in their efforts to put a "fresh spin" on the classic, they end up creating a new song that bears little resemblance to the classic, but has the same lyrics and a similar beat.

As a side note, I don't really understand why Disney had the Jonas Bros. cover an Ursula song seeing as how she's a female octupus/squid/whatever sea creature she is(I don't remember) and they're males. What next, somebody from HSM covering Someday my prince will come?

I will say that the cover of Cruella De Vil on the Dalmatians DVD wasn't too bad(and I know it wasn't Jonas Brothers.) The all time classic cover song disaster is from Aladdin, mostly because the cover of A Whole New World was by Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson. Nothing says romantic Disney fairy tale like classic Hollywood divorce. Alas my wishes that this would get Disney to stop the covers on the DVDs did not come true.

[diznykid]

May 1, 2008 20:13:16 GMT -5 Briar Rose's Dark Knight said:

It's been my experience that just about everyone butchers a cover of a Disney classic. Sometimes in their efforts to put a "fresh spin" on the classic, they end up creating a new song that bears little resemblance to the classic, but has the same lyrics and a similar beat.

As a side note, I don't really understand why Disney had the Jonas Bros. cover an Ursula song seeing as how she's a female octupus/squid/whatever sea creature she is(I don't remember) and they're males. What next, somebody from HSM covering Someday my prince will come?

I will say that the cover of Cruella De Vil on the Dalmatians DVD wasn't too bad(and I know it wasn't Jonas Brothers.) The all time classic cover song disaster is from Aladdin, mostly because the cover of A Whole New World was by Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson. Nothing says romantic Disney fairy tale like classic Hollywood divorce. Alas my wishes that this would get Disney to stop the covers on the DVDs did not come true.

Haha how ironic. Ashley Tisdale, aka Sharpay Evans, did a cover of it, and I didn't really like it. Ashley Tisdale's cover of kiss the girl wasn't too bad, it was good, but not as good as the original, of course. Now, If you want to hear an awesome cover, look up Nick Pitera on Youtube.

[icyheart16]

I'm speaking my opinion, but I absolutley cannot stand them! They just have the annoying sound of a baby boy band. They remind me of the Naked Brothers Band... can't stand them either.

No one can compare to the wonder of The Backstreet Boys and N*Sync... sigh

[Skybird14]

May 6, 2008 9:13:46 GMT -5 icyheart16 said:

I'm speaking my opinion, but I absolutley cannot stand them! They just have the annoying sound of a baby boy band. They remind me of the Naked Brothers Band... can't stand them either.

My sentiments exactly, on the very few times that I've heard them I've never been impressed.

In a few years time they'll have disappeared from the limelight and their music is never going to be remembered in the same way that classic acts are remembered today.

[Butterscotch]

They're okay; I actually liked their version of Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me, I thought it was fun and energetic, but I'm not too familiar with the orginal version, so I don't really have anything to compare it too.

[SpellWovenNight]

I like them. They're not the best but they're good for their field. Granted there really isn't anyone else in their field right now. They're not an actual band like The Academy Is. . . and they're not really a boy band either like the Backstreet Boys. I think their songs are great to have fun to. Great for sleep overs - lots of energy and able to dance to. Its almost a band version of Techno to me.

[joplin4]

I hated the changes they made to "(Yo Ho) A Pirate's Life For Me". Their version changed the lyrics, and I think changed the spirit of the song as well.